When hosting a prospective student in the winter months, Ally Byers advises Northwestern students to stay inside.
‘Definitely don’t walk around the Lakefill,’ the Medill freshman said. Instead, Byers suggested using the campus shuttle.
Despite some prospies’ concerns about the weather, temperature has little to do with how many students visit campus, said Robert Walton, assistant director of undergraduate admission. For the record number of applicants to the Class of 2014, touring in the winter is a smart choice, he said.
‘When students are coming from warmer climates, it’s a good idea for them to visit sometime when it is cold because it gives them the best understanding of what they’re going to be experiencing,’ he said.
Emily Long, a junior at Grand Rapids Christian High School in Michigan who visited campus last weekend, said the weather is not enough of a deterrent to keep her from applying to NU. Long also toured campus in the summer and said she returned to get a more realistic view of life at NU.
‘It was a little frigid this morning, and it’s windier than Grand Rapids, but I don’t think the weather would make or break it just because the school has such a great reputation,’ she said. ‘The weather shouldn’t be that big of a factor.’
NU’s Student Admission Council, a division of the Office of Undergraduate Admission, sets up overnight visits for prospies who have already applied to NU.
Byers hosted a prospie on a cold day in October as part of the SAC and said she tailored the visit to the weather while still helping her prospie get a comprehensive look at campus.
‘We were all bundled up, and (the visiting student) was definitely really sad about it,’ Byers said. ‘She asked how cold it got, if it got cold by the lake. We talked about that a lot actually.’
Long said the positive aspects of her visit outweighed the low temperatures.
‘When we went into the dorm, everyone in there was so happy and nice and positive and had so many good things to say about the school and their professors and everything about their experience,’ she said.
Denying the cold weather would do prospies a disservice, Byers said.
‘It’s good to let them know how the winter is going to be instead of just being like, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad,’ Byers said. ‘They’re here to get the whole (experience).’ [email protected]
